These articles of faith of Whetstone Baptist Church are the historic doctrines of the Christian faith expressed in the Word of God.
The Scriptures
We believe that the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testament, was verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit and inerrant in the original writings. We believe that the Scriptures are the final authority for faith and life and that they stand as the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried. (II Tim. 3:16-17; I Pet. 1:10-11; II Pet. 1:21; Isaiah 8:20.)
The True God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct, but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (John 4:24; Deut. 6:4; Ps. 83:18; Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4.)
The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God manifested in the flesh; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin as no man ever was born; that He is true God and true man, possessing a sinless human nature and that in His humiliation He never ceased from being God, but assumed a body for the purpose of our redemption. (John 1:1-14; Phil. 2:6-8; John 14:9; Col. 1:15-17.)
Fallen Creatures
We believe in the personal existence of demons, fallen angels, and in the literal and distinct personality of Satan, who is the unholy god of this age, the prince of all powers of darkness and sin; and that he is destined to the judgment of eternal punishment in the lake of fire. (Matt. 4:1-11; Eph. 2:2; 6:12; James 2:19; Jude 6; Rev. 20:1-10.)
Creation
We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, “each after its own kind,” and not by the process of evolution. (Gen. 1 & 2; I Cor. 15:38-41.)
The Fall of Man
We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. We believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by birth and by choice, positively inclined to evil and therefore, they are under just condemnation to eternal ruin without defense or excuse. (Gen. 1:26-27; Ps. 51:5; 58:3; Rom. 3:23; 5:12-21; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; Gen. 2:17.)
Redemption for Sin
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and died voluntarily as a substitutionary and representative sacrifice for sin, thereby satisfying the justice and wrath of God. We believe that He was buried and rose literally and bodily from the grave, that He ascended into heaven and that He is seated at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest and Advocate. (Rom. 5:6-8; II Cor. 5:21; I Pet. 2:24; 3:18; Heb. 1:3; I Cor. 15:20.)
Justification
We believe that all who believe in Christ are justified on the basis of His shed blood; that justification includes the pardon of sin, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ and restoration to God’s favor. (Acts 13:38-39; Rom. 3:24; Rom. 5:1,9,16.)
Regeneration
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated or born again; that regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind; that it is effected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel, that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life. We believe that this life is maintained and strengthened through the process of sanctification. (John 1:12,13; 3:3-7; II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:1; Phil. 1:6; Titus 3:5; I Pet. 1:4.)
Security of the Believer
We believe that all who are truly born again are eternally saved and kept by the power of God. (John 6:39; 10:28-29; II Tim. 1:12; I Pet. 1:5.)
Repentance and Faith
We believe that repentance and faith are the indispensable conditions for salvation. (Acts 11:18; 20:21; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 10:9-10.)
The Church
We believe that the universal church is a spiritual body of believers who have been baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. We believe that the local church should be the manifestation of the body of Christ and a New Testament local church is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its only scriptural offices are bishops or pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and Titus. Moreover, we believe that these offices should be occupied by men only. (I Cor. 12:12-13; Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; I Tim. 3; III John 9. 1 Cor. 11:1-3.)
Ordinances
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of the believer (one time backward) into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to show forth in solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; and that it is prerequisite to membership of the local church. (Matt. 28:18-19; Acts 2:38,41; 8:36-39; Rom. 6:3-5.) We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of our Lord’s death until He shall come, that it is for believers only and that it should be preceded by self-examination. (I Cor. 11:23-32.)
Separation
We believe that the believer should be separated from sinful practices and worldly lusts and that the local church should avoid affiliation, unequal yokes and cooperation with any association or organization which is heretical in doctrine and practice. (II Cor. 7:1; 6:14-18; I Pet. 1:13-18; 2:11-12; I John 2:15-17; Rom. 16:17-18; Jude 3-4.)
Civil Government
We believe that civil government is a divine appointment, for the interest of a good order of society, and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed; except only in things opposed to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the prince of the kings of the earth. (Matt. 22:21; Rom. 13:1-7; I Pet. 2:13-17; Acts 5:29; I Tim. 2:1-3; 6:15.)
The Lord’s Return
We believe in the personal, visible, premillennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth, at which time He will judge the nations, set up His kingdom and fulfill His promise to Israel. We believe that His advent will be preceded by His pre-tribulational return for His church; that the dead in Christ shall be raised and the living believers caught up to meet the Lord in the air and to be with Him forever. (Zech. 14:3-4; John 14:1-3; Matt. 25:31-46; I Thess. 4:13-18; 5:9-10; II Thess. 1:7-10; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-3.)
The Final State
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the saved and the unsaved; that the saved will enjoy eternal bliss, but the unsaved are condemned to conscious and endless punishment. (Mark 9:43-47; John 3:36; 5:24; Rev. 21:1-8.)
Human Sexuality
With neither malice nor prejudice toward any one individual, we believe that God has created human sexuality and has established sexual relations as an honorable part of the marriage relationship between one man and one woman. God has commanded that there be no sexual activity outside of marriage. We believe that adultery, bestiality, bisexuality, fornication, homosexuality, incest, lesbianism, pornography, rape, and all other sexual actions or relations outside of the marriage relationship between one man and one woman are perversions of human sexuality; and all these are sinful. (Gen. 2:22-25; 19:4-13; Ex. 20:14; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-32; 7:2; I Cor. 5:1-2; 6:9-10; 7:1-40; I Thess. 4:1-7; Heb. 13:4; Eph. 5:22-28.)